SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) -- Discovery Communications Inc., which owns cable channels such as Animal Planet and TLC, said Thursday that net income in the last three months of 2011 grew 76 percent because of higher revenue from advertising and fees for rights to appear on cable and satellite TV lineups.
Net income grew to $336 million, or 86 cents a share, up from $191 million, or 45 cents a share, a year earlier. That beat the 69 cents per share expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet.
Revenue increased 11 percent to $1.12 billion, from $1.02 billion. Analysts were expecting $1.11 billion.
Revenue at U.S. cable networks grew 11 percent to $677 million. Discovery said advertising revenue in the U.S. grew 13 percent. Distribution revenue, which is what cable and satellite companies such as Comcast Corp. pay to carry Discovery's channels, grew 7 percent in the U.S. because of higher rates and growth in subscribers.
Those increases more than offset what was lost from the end of the Discovery Health channel. Oprah Winfrey's OWN, which is a joint venture of Discovery and Winfrey's Harpo Inc., replaced Discovery Health last year.
Discovery's revenue also grew internationally, with advertising revenue up 18 percent and distribution revenue increasing 10 percent. Overall, international networks revenue increased 12 percent to $401 million.
Revenue from a smaller, educational division was flat at $45 million.
The company's profit also got a boost from paying lower taxes.
Discovery said it expects net income of $975 million to $1.08 billion in 2012. Analysts were expecting $1.09 billion. Revenue forecast for the year was for $4.45 billion to $4.58 billion. Analysts were expecting $4.47 billion.
Its stock fell 81 cents, or 1.8 percent, to close at $44.94.
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